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Green Dot Up 22.2 Percent In IPO

Monrovia-based Green Dot, the provider of prepaid credit cards which hit the market today, closed up 22.2 percent in its IPO, at $43.99. The firm had debuted on the market Thursday morning at $36.00 per share, above initial estimates of $32.00 to $35.00 per share. The firm is now listed at GDOT on the NYSE. The IPO is the second successful, Southern California IPO in as many weeks, with Beverly Hills-based RealD also getting a similarly robust reception last Friday at its own IPO. RealD had surged 22 percent on its debut day, going from $16.00 to $19.52. RealD closed at $17.55 today. Green Dot traded as high as $44.93 on its first day of trading.

The reception for Green Dot means that Steven Streit, Green Dot's CEO and founder, now owns a stake worth roughly $218M; Sequoia Capital, the firm's biggest investor, now has shares worth around $532M on the market. In what might also result in a mini boom in angel investing in Southern California, a significant number of Tech Coast Angels have benefited significantly from their seed investments in Green Dot. Based on shareholder filing, a number of Tech Coast Angels are reaping multi-million dollar stakes in the firm as a result of the IPO.